The dispensing of medicines and the like within readily digestible gelatin capsules is a technique which has been in use since the middle of the last century. Typically, empty gel capsules have been manufactured in two piece cylindrical form, one piece being called the body and the other the top. The capsule bodies are filled with medicine and the tops, which have a slightly larger internal diameter than the outer diameter of the body, are placed over the filled bodies for supply to the ultimate consumer.
Over the years, a strong consumer preference has developed for taking many kinds of medicine in capsule form. The encapsulated products are generally considered to be easier to swallow, since they are tasteless and the gelatin coating does not dissolve until the capsule is within the stomach, so that bitter and otherwise unpleasant tastes associated with many medicines are avoided.
Presently utilized forms of capsule-making equipment are essentially the same in operating principles and basic construction as the equipment described in Colton U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,777, issued Jan. 6, 1931, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. According to Colton, capsule-forming pins are mounted in series on elongated bars called pin bars. Pairs of pin bars, one having pins dimensioned to form capsule tops or caps and the other having pins of slightly smaller diameter and forming capsule bodies, are moved along parallel paths to a dipping bath where the pins are immersed in a liquid gelatin of conventional composition under temperature conditions which allow for the formation of a coating of gelatin on each pin. When the desired amount of coating has accumulated, the bars with the coated pins are then removed from the gelatin bath, passed through a drier and then stripped from the pins by a stripper mechanism into openings in collets or holders associated with each pin. The ends of the capsule parts are then trimmed to length after which the capsule top or cap is fitted onto the capsule body. In the form Colton machines have been used for many years, the completed empty capsules are then deposited on a conveyer belt and, after inspection, are shipped to a pharmaceutical company or pharmacy where they are taken apart, filled with medicament and, thereafter, bottled in predetermined quantities for dispensing to the ultimate user.
Another known form of encapsulation equipment is as described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,524, issued Apr. 11, 1989. This equipment involves modification of Colton-type machinery so that the pin blocks are replaced with caplet holders which grip the caplets and individually dip and dry first one end and then the other end of each caplet to provide a complete overcoating of gelatin.